


saving yourself is hard enough--

by poalimal



Series: WIP Amnesty [16]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Systematic Inequality, hopelessness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 15:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19726228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poalimal/pseuds/poalimal





	saving yourself is hard enough--

\--trying to save someone else is impossible. 

Yet somehow, after Pa had his accident, after Ma had to get a second job, after Sarah had to go live with Aunt Cordy in Alexandria, Gideon got it into his head that what Sam really needed was saving.

Growing up he'd had no time for his little brother, and he'd brushed Sam off so much that Sam'd stopped following him around even before Sarah was born. After he got kicked out of college, he used to watch Sam get ready for high school in the mornings with this real evil look on his face, like he'd pop him in the mouth if Sam so much as looked at him too long.

Sam was realistic. He knew Gideon couldn't stand him. It was Mama, probably, who went to him for help. A distant part of him found it ironic - going to the Bailout for a bailout - but mostly he didn't think about what it said about him. He didn't care. What did it matter anyway? You could spend your whole life trying to do right by everybody else, and people would just punish you for trying.

Nah, Gideon had the right of it, and he didn't even know. Against people like them, the system was rigged; no point in playing.


End file.
